Final Promise
by s2.dii
Summary: NejiTen. "Neji...before I die, just promise me...one last thing..." The truest meaning of love can only exist in a March blizzard.


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S2...

The moon's pale beam shone down on the vacant paths, ghostly roads that led into the unknown darkness.

The bare limbs of the yet to blossom tree cast swaying shadows against the buildings and reflected off the late March snow in a serene and eerily beautiful way. The only sound was the silence, occasionally interrupted by

the whispering of the branches and the waft of the snow. All of Konoha's citizens were asleep, waiting for the dawn of the day.

Yet a single light flickered from the Eastern Wing of the Hyuuga Compound, now otherwise known as the weapon shop and storage.

It had been flipped on since five the previous morning and the light had never left.

Nor did the man inside the room.

He was, as expected, a Hyuuga. With pale knowing eyes that matched the wisdom of the moon, and hair that matched the night. He had finely-carved features and looked around 20 or so.

Yet the most surprising thing was the 'X' like mark imprinted on his forehead, hardly visible amongst the beads of perspiration that had risen on his face.

Taking his newly crafted weapon, Hyuuga Neji, the current leader of the Hyuuga Clan, strode over and gazed out the window. The snow fell ever so quickly, ever so quietly. He leaned against the windowsill, letting

snowflakes drift onto his face through the open window. It was March and a blizzard had struck.

Just like that day.

He turned the cool metal in his hand, inspecting its fineness. Then, as he gazed down at the fragments of snow landing tranquilly on its flawless blade, piece by piece, his memories fell into place.

_This was it. _

_The last day they would be together. He was going to the Sand as the __ambassador of Sunagakure. She was going to the Lightning to complete a ten-year mission. _

_The __last time to laugh, cry, complain about Lee together. The last time they would fight side by side, the unbreakable bond, the teamwork only love and trust can create. _

_He saw her pause and turn her gaze to him. It was now, in the midst of a violent battle __against the Sound in March. It was her last time to fight alongside him, to be the one who would protect him._

_She deflected a couple of misdirected kunais and leapt to Neji's side, covering his blind spot with her body. Everywhere was covered with red and white, the tree branches, the ground, all clothed in snow._

_"Neji." She spoke his name between the prudent swipes of her kunai. "Neji, can I talk to you for a second?" As usual, he gave no response, pulling out a shurikan from a unfortunate straggler enemy nin, and following her to a deserted _

_branch of a sturdy oak. He turned his gaze on her, waiting for her to speak._

_"Neji..." She began unsurely. "Neji...We've been together for a long time." She averted __his eyes. "From when we were selected to be in the same Genin team. To now." She spread her __arms wide, as if he was to inspect her. _

_"And we've been through a lot. The Chuunin exams. Your __fight with Naruto. And even the Jounin exam. We've been by each other, through thick and thin. _

_Through your pains and mine. Five years. Friends, teammates, and comrades." She looked up __into his pearl eyes. "And all that. All those years, I've never gone by a day without seeing you. _

_And that's going to change. It's going to end-" He saw her throat unexpectedly tighten. _

_"-Today."_

_He nodded his head in response. He knew all this. He had undoubtly prepared for it._

_"And...Neji." She glanced firmly into his eyes. "Throughout that day, when I first met __you, I've always wanted to tell you something." She sighed. "But, now, even if I tell you, it's too __late. It doesn't matter." _

_He didn't reply, yet his usual unemotional eyes held a tint of melancholy to them. _

_She glanced down again. "I've … I've always loved you Neji. Always. From the first day to the __last. I always have. And..." She paused. _

_"...and I always will."_

_A heavy silence followed. When she finally had the courage to face him, she looked up. _

_His eyes held indescribable emotions. Like amazement and shock. Maybe a bit of loss __and pain. Maybe even embarrassment. _

_And, maybe she missed it, but he felt his eyes reflect his __heart, a glimmer of love._

_What happened next happened so fast he had missed it. _

_Yet, she saw it. The kunai, __flying fast and straight towards them. Long training periods and weapon expertise told her that it __was going to hit him, _

_Neji. At his blind spot. A fatal shot._

_She had six seconds to react. He was still stunned by her sudden confession. She __did the only thing she could probably think of at that time, she gathered up her strength and __pushed him out of the kunai's path. _

_Quickly, she landed a light kiss on his lips, knowing it would __be the last time she would do so._

_The kunai pierced her flesh, it pierced her lungs and heart, too. It was no __ordinary kunai. The ones twice as heavy and ten times as sharp. _

_Oddly, she felt no pain, no fear, __no regret. Only gratitude for saving the one person for whom she lived for._

_When he turned around, all he saw was the blood. Vibrant crimson splotches across the __whiteness of the snow. There were even traces on his cloak. _

_But the most came from her._

_He leapt from the tree, falling down hard on his knees, in shock for all that had just surpassed. She was lying in the snow, __unmoving, and in the endless pools of blood. _

_Her pale face was in a small smile and her long __brown-black hair fanned out around her in messy waves. She gazed up with her half-closed hazel __eyes at him. A kunai protruded from the middle of her chest. _

_"Tenten." His voice rang her name. "Tenten, please, hold in there, it doesn't have to end __this way." He stumbled over to her. He picked up her hands and cradled them in his own. _

_They __were as cold as his blood._

_She could only smiled up at him, that delicate smile that would grace her lips the last time. _

_"Neji...It's no use...that was a fatal shot...I can already see the world beginning to darken." She __closed her eyes and drew out a shaky breath, and continued smiling that smile at him that __tore through his heart. _

_"No..." He gasped. This could not be the end. Tears escaped his closed eyelids. There __was nothing he could do. Only watch as she faded away before his eyes. _

_"Tenten. Don't leave __me. Please. There has to be another way." He held her hand more tightly, as if hoping he could __bring the warmth back. His crystalline eyes closed. Maybe this was all a bad dream. _

_He watched __as her breathing slowed. Now the snow held spots of both her blood and his tears. _

_"Isn't there anything I can do?" He whispered. She looked at him. _

_" Neji…don't let go...of my hand... I want you to be with me until...until the...end…Neji……" _

_He stroked her paled cheeks softly. "I won't." He said firmly. _

_A bright river of scarlet steadily continued to pour from her wound, colouring her white __shirt. Drops of vermilion dripped down onto the snow._

_"Neji…this is…an extraordinary weapon…" She coughed. "…If I were able…to I…I __would…want to use it…in battle…and since…since I can't…Neji…keep this weapon…"_

_His eyes hardened. "No. I will never use something that killed, no-" He shook his head _

_sharply. "-hurt a teammate. I will…I will develop a kunai ten, no, one hundred times stronger __then this one. Tenten. __**I promise**__."_

_She looked at him. "Neji…is that all I am to you…? A teammate…? ...A comrade…? A __friend…? _

_"No." He shook his head again. "Tenten…listen Tenten. I've always loved you. Truly. _

_More than as a friend…I love you more than anything or anyone in this world." He entwined his __own warm fingers with her shivering ones. "And…and after you recover we can live together __happily ever after. I'll cancel the Sunagakure _

_offer, and you can cancel yours. We'll live in __Konoha, in the Hyuuga compound, in the Eastern Wing…the warmest place in the building…We'll __watch the sunrise, and I'll be there for you when it sets, too. _

_And when spring comes, we can catch the __peach petals. __We'll spar daily……and together…we'll become the strongest ninja. Togeth-"_

_"Neji…" Her smile was like something one would show to a young child, reassuring, yet apologetic. "No, .N...Ne...ji...I won't make _

_it……As…as much as I want to…I won-'t." She gasped out, struggling to breath. Her eyes glazed __over but then refocused on his. "I just…want to…say...one…last time……that…I...love...you." _

_She __coughed out blood, her body shaking violently. "...A...And...I always...will..." She gasped for air __as her lungs began to fail. "...I will...think...of you..." She coughed more violently. _

_Neji grasped __her hand tightly and pressed it again his cheek. "...and...I...I will…wait...for you...forever..." __She smiled at him, looking like a fallen angel. _

_"I… died…for the one I love…and I couldn't be __happier." _

_He stared unblinkingly into her hazel eyes, even though he wished he could shut out those __tears threatening to overwhelm his vision. "I love you, too."_

"_That's good." The last of her breath escaped her as she whispered what she had always __wanted to. _

_"Neji."_

_And then her heart stopped. She slowly closed her eyes yet her lips remained in that __smile. He just stared blankly, not believing. This couldn't be real...Tenten could not have died. _

_Fate would not be this cruel. He bend down slowly and kissed her lightly on the lips. _

_The first __time. As a farewell kiss. The only time. The last time. _

_As if the heavens received this message, a light snowflake drifted down and landed on __Tenten's cheek. It stayed there, the perfect snowflake, never melting. Then slowly, it turned into __a blizzard. _

_Snow fell down heavily, mourning for him, covering them both in a cloak of white. A __golden beam of light fell down on them, connecting the earth and the sky, a pathway to __heaven. _

_As cold as it was, he held on to her hand. He bowed his head, as if in prayer. He never __moved an inch from her. His one. The only. No girl would ever replace her. _

_Him, the prodigy who had always shown no emotion on his face, no love in his heart, __remained kneeling in the thick snow. Tears continued to fall onto the snowy ground around him. _

_The snow continued, with no signs of stopping. The war had definitely ended. The __sounds of battle had ceased a while ago. He knew the silence and the snow was Tenten's _

_mourning from above. She would never cry, never make it rain, only make it snow. _

_She would be his guardian angel, watching from above until that day he could join her in __heaven, together at last. But in the meantime, he would have to live his life to the fullest. _

_Tenten would have wanted that. She had given up her life for him to do so._

_The citizens of the Leaf saw that day in history as a sad one. The day when Konoha lost __its best weapon mistress. The day when he, Hyuuga Neji, lost a part of his heart. An open scar. _

_An unhealed wound._

The tears hit the blade with a clear, crystal-like sound. They blurred his reflection, then dripped from its edges onto the wooden floor.

Neji turned the kunai over in his hand. It was a fine weapon. The finest maybe, he dared to hope, that Konoha would ever see.

It was sharp on the edges and the tip and hard as a diamond. It had a cloth wrapped handle, comfortable and easy to grip. And perfect balance, perfect aim. Yet surprisingly light.

Through the loop on the end hung a brown-coloured thread of silk. He had tirelessly searched for the exact shade and tone.

A hazel-like, coffee-like colour. Warm yet definite. The colour of her eyes. Since that day they had closed forever, he needed them, he missed them. He missed her.

Tenten.

Un wanting to fall into endless layers of reminiscing and regretting, he picked up the kunai once more, and careful not to stain it with his burnt and bleeding hands, proceeded to clean it one last time.

This kunai. It would remind him of her. Forever. Of her eyes. Of his words. His endless love.

His final promise.

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